May 5, 2013 - Male Bufflehead

I’ve always thought of the male Bufflehead as a black and white duck. But after taking these photos at the Coon Rapids Dam (on the Mississippi River in the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities area) I’ve seen the light. More accurately, I’ve seen how the angle of the light affects the color of the head feathers on this duck.

These photos show the iridescence of the head feathers. Depending on how the light is hitting them, they can look purple, green, or blue. Buffleheads are small ducks, 13 to 16 inches long. They nest in the boreal and aspen forests of Canada. According to the book Birds of North America, they tend to nest in holes made by Northern Flickers.